Lions, Tigers, and… Demons? Oh, my
by Xander03
Summary: : Kennedy is kidnapped. Stiles and Terri are dispatched to the scene, with no idea why. They’re in for a big surprise… (Buffy/Agency Crossover)


Title: Lions, Tigers, and. Demons? Oh, my.  
  
Author: Xander03  
  
Rating: PG-13  
  
Buffy the Vampire Slayer Crossover with The Agency  
  
Spoilers: General Season 6 & 7 Buffy, Season 2 Agency  
  
Summary: Kennedy is kidnapped. Stiles and Terri are dispatched to the scene, with no idea why. They're in for a big surprise.  
  
"All I know is we're supposed to catch the first flight to Sunnydale, California, for what appears to be a routine kidnapping," Stiles said into his cellular phone. "Meet me at the airport in one hour." He hit the "off" button, and continued to frantically pack his baggage. Some days, he got sent to Iraq. Some days, he got sent to France. Today, he was misfortunate enough to be sent to some unheard of town in the middle of California. At least Terri got to come along.  
  
An hour and a half later, the two were on a flight headed west. The complete lack of intelligence regarding this case disturbed both of them, but the call to go had come from Director Gage himself. Stiles had been assured they would receive more information upon arrival.  
  
They arrived in Sunnydale around four in the afternoon, approximately fourteen hours since the child had reportedly been abducted by force from the house she was living in. There were no parents or relatives to contact, only the other young adults living in the house with her. Stiles and Terry picked up their rental car, and headed to the scene.  
  
Only to be assured by a short blonde woman, identified as Buffy Summers, that they weren't needed. She promptly, and quite rudely, escorted them off the premises, and promised to notify them if their services were needed. They stood on the street in front of their sedan, trying to decide what to do.  
  
"Call Gage. This is weird," Terri said, surveying the neighborhood. "Quiet town, decent looking kids. This doesn't seem normal here, and neither does that girl's lack of concern."  
  
"I don't know if it was lack of concern. I just think she wanted us gone." Stiles dialed Director Gage directly, and Terri watched as he paced back and forth in front of the rental sedan. He didn't say very much, although his face showed that this was indeed not a normal situation. Stoic at all times, he finally said, "I understand. We'll take care of it."  
  
"So," Terri said, "What's the big deal about this one kidnapping? Doesn't the FBI usually do this stuff?"  
  
Stiles stared hard at her for a moment, blinking several times. "Well, apparently this is a matter of national and worldwide security. The victim in this case happens to be the lover of a very powerful witch." He stopped, waiting for a reaction from Terri.  
  
After several seconds, he got his reaction. "A witch? As in Glenda?" She snickered.  
  
"Yeah, except this one turns into the Wicked Witch of the West when bad things happen to her girlfriends. Last year she almost destroyed the planet when her lover was shot."  
  
"Destroyed the planet." Terri grinned. "How? With her super magical abilities? Is this some sort of sick joke, Stiles?" She was trying to contain outright laughter.  
  
"No, and what is worse is what will happen if she tries again."  
  
"I must be missing something. We have a witch who has a girlfriend who got kidnapped. And according to the CIA, this witch can and probably will bring about the end of the planet if said girlfriend is not found? And there is something worse than this? You've got to be kidding me."  
  
"I'm afraid not," Stiles said, deadpan. "Apparently this area is known for supernatural and/or demonic activity. Gage said a few years back they had a secret program to study the demons, and the demons wiped out most of the installation."  
  
"Demons?"  
  
"Vampires and demons and other nasty things."  
  
"So why, if this entire area is under threat from demons, which I'm still not believing, has the government not fixed it?" She was laughing so hard, she had a difficult time asking the question.  
  
"They can't," he said. "And stop laughing. They tried once, and they failed. The only thing that saved them is that blonde girl that just gave us the boot. Officially known as the 'Slayer,' she is about the only one in this area who can stop the demons. And if her witch friend attempts to end the world again, this 'Slayer' will probably decide to step in and possibly get herself killed." Stiles paused to let her take it all in. "And apparently the only thing worse than this witch going nuts is Buffy Summers dying and leaving this area unprotected."  
  
"So, what exactly are we supposed to do? Sit on lawn chairs and take bets?" She was calmer now, but still grinning excessively.  
  
"We're to infiltrate the Slayer's group, convince them to trust us, and use any means necessary to deliver Kennedy back into the arms of her girlfriend."  
  
Both agents jumped at the female voice behind them. "And how exactly do you plan to do that? And what kind of secret agents are you, discussing your plans in front of my house? Didn't they tell you I have above average hearing?"  
  
"Uh, no," Stiles said. "They left that part out. They've left a lot out, actually."  
  
Buffy rolled her eyes, and muttered "Stupid government." She looked at the agents, casually turned around and started walking toward the house, and threw over her shoulder, "You might as well come in and get the full story, since you're probably not going to leave anyway. Better to not have you getting in the way."  
  
Terri and Stiles followed the girl, and could hear her announcing their arrival to the house. "Guess who decided to show up? The CIA!" Groans and muffled curses followed, but were cut off when the two agents walked through the door.  
  
Rolled sleeping bags and luggage surrounded the living room. A laptop and rather old looking papers were the only items on the kitchen table. Noises from the kitchen indicated at least two men were preparing a large dinner. And there were teenage girls everywhere; talking, giggling, and pointing at the two agents. Terri figured they were mostly pointing at Stiles.  
  
An older man approached and held his hand out to shake Terri's, and then Stiles'. "I'm Rupert Giles. I assume you must be part of the Initiative."  
  
Terri started to answer. "The Initiative? I'm not sure what you're."  
  
"Giles, they're from the CIA, and they don't know anything about the Initiative." Buffy reappeared, apparently after assisting in the kitchen.  
  
Giles took off his glasses and started cleaning them with his shirt. "Of course. It would make too much sense for your government to communicate."  
  
"What exactly is this Initiative?" Stiles asked. "And can you tell us more about your operations here?"  
  
"Operations?" Buffy laughed. "This is going to be a long day."  
  
Buffy started to lead them into the living room, but Giles stopped her. "Are you sure we should tell them?"  
  
"They already know plenty. And if they don't know the rest, they're just going to stick around and cause trouble. Besides, we need all the help we can get, remember?"  
  
Giles nodded, and he and Buffy led the two agents into the living room where they all sat down, and Buffy began speaking, "Into each generation, a Slayer is born."  
  
***  
  
Approximately four hours later, Stiles and Terri had heard about a good chunk of Buffy Summers' life in Sunnydale, California. They'd also received dinner, spaghetti, from an odd teenager who wanted to know if there was a second shooter on the grassy knoll. And they'd been introduced to everyone in the house, it seemed.  
  
"So now that you know why I'm here," Buffy said, "why are you here?"  
  
Stiles blinked several times before answering. "Sorry, I'm a bit overwhelmed. We were ordered here to find the young woman that was abducted last night." He wasn't sure he wanted to comment more, now that the "witch" was in the room with them, looking sad and pale. He wasn't entirely convinced she could end the world, but he wasn't ready to find out.  
  
"Why?" Buffy persisted.  
  
Terri tried to explain it gently. "Well, apparently the government is aware of an attack made last year. I believe you told us some parts of the story; when your friend, Willow," she looked over at the red head, "was very angry." Slight understatement, given the reports, but Terri wasn't interested in finding out about magic, either.  
  
After spending the last few hours in complete silence, it was a shock when the red head spoke. "So you think that if we don't find my girlfriend, I'm going to try to destroy the world again?"  
  
Hard stares all around, aimed at the agents. Stiles shifted uncomfortably, and said, "Well, yes."  
  
He expected a reaction of some sort, but everyone else sat perfectly still and continued to watch the agents. After a few agonizing minutes of silence, Terri finally said, "Are we missing something here?"  
  
"So you aren't here about the First?" Buffy asked.  
  
"The first what?" Terri replied.  
  
More blank stares from the room. More uncomfortable silence. Finally, Buffy said, "The First Evil. The very first source of evil on the planet. Is the government, or at least your part of the government, not aware that the primal force of evil is raising an army in preparation for the complete destruction of humanity? They sent out here just because of Willow?"  
  
"Hey!" The guy that had been introduced as Xander yelled. "Wills is a perfectly good reason for anyone to come to Sunnydale!" He smiled at the red head, who gave a weak smile back.  
  
"Yes," Stiles said to Buffy, "we were sent here to secure her friend, so she would not become, uh, unhappy."  
  
"Oh, she is such the least of our problems right now," Buffy said. Looking at Willow, she added more softly, "Of course, we still plan on finding Kennedy."  
  
"I don't mean to be rude," Terri said, "but I'm still stuck on the demons being real thing, and now you are telling me that the first of all these demons is here, waiting to strike? You tell a very interesting story, but it sounds like fairy tales to me. Has it ever occurred to you people that you need therapy?"  
  
"Terri," Stiles started to say, but was interrupted when the blonde man sitting next to Terri growled. Something horrible happened to his face, and fangs were now clearly visible. He jumped on to Terri, and bit her neck, all before she could even scream.  
  
Just as suddenly as he was on top of Terri, the blonde man calmly sat back down. His face returned to normal. Stiles remembered his name was Spike. Spike looked at Terri and said, "You look scared, luv. Looks like you need some therapy, too."  
  
Terri slunk back into the sofa, mumbled something that sounded like, "Nevermind," closed her eyes, and started taking deep breaths.  
  
Stiles, attempting to act like this was all part of the job, said, "Well, I think we've seen enough demonstrations." He looked warily at Spike, and patted Terri on the knee. "How about we'll believe you and you tell us what you know about Kennedy's abduction, and we'll see what we can do?"  
  
"Actually, we know quite a bit," Giles said. "It would seem the military lost one of the warlocks it was holding prisoner and."  
  
"Warlock? I hate my job," Terri quietly said.  
  
"Yes, a warlock," Giles repeated. "Ethan Rayne. It would seem Kennedy could not sleep, and went onto the back porch for some air. He took her, probably using magic to overwhelm her, as she is a capable fighter."  
  
"How do you know it was him?" Stiles asked.  
  
"He called this morning to tell us," Mr. Giles said. "He apparently took Kennedy in the hopes of convincing Willow to perform some spell for him. He said he would call again tomorrow."  
  
"Okay, this is something we can work with," Stiles said, nodding. "Do you have a picture of Kennedy?" Willow nodded. "Good. I need you to send it to this email address." He reached into his pocket, and retrieved a business card.  
  
Stiles hit the speed dial on his cellular phone. "Lex, I need you run a trace on all the incoming calls for the Summers' home. I'm having a file sent to you of the victim, run it through all the normal surveillance photos. And see what you can find out about an Ethan Rayne, former prisoner of the military. He might have escaped. Run his picture through as well. Thanks." Closing his phone, he looked over a Terri, who seemed a bit better. "You alright?"  
  
"Sure. Outstanding, even. Why can't we get sent to Korea like other agents?"  
  
"Oh they have a real problem with Ethros Demons over there," Giles commented. "You may want to avoid that area."  
  
"Really?" The woman introduced as Anya asked. "It's been awhile since I've been there. They have very angry women," she nodded to Terri.  
  
"Yeah, but they taste good," Spike added.  
  
"The women or the Ethros Demons?" Xander asked.  
  
"I couldn't drink from an Ethros Demon," Spike said. "The women, of course. All that anger makes 'em tasty."  
  
"It's getting late," Buffy said. "Why don't we stop scaring these poor people and get some sleep. Do you all have someplace to stay? We can find you room here."  
  
"I think we should stay here," Stiles said, receiving quite a startled look from Terri. "You know, just in case something happens."  
  
"I believe there is some room and extra cots in the basement," Giles said. "Dawn, would you please get our guests some bedding?"  
  
Anya once again looked at Terri, and gave her a big smile. "No need to worry about Spike being down there. Buffy chains him up at night."  
  
"Yeah, luv," Spike said as he gently grabbed Terri's arm and pulled her up off the sofa. "It'll be like a slumber party, real fun like." Spike dragged Teri toward the basement, Stiles following. Buffy brought up the rear, reassuring Stiles and Teri that Spike was usually mostly harmless.  
  
***  
  
Terri woke with a start. It hadn't been easy getting to sleep, but once she'd finally decided the vampire wasn't going anywhere, she fell asleep hard. Now the vampire was talking to himself, perhaps having a nightmare.  
  
"You aren't her," he said softly. "You aren't real. Go away."  
  
Terri watched, hoping the vampire wouldn't notice she was awake.  
  
"No, you can't play with them. They're guests. Leave them alone."  
  
Terri sat up. "Spike. Spike! Who are you talking to?"  
  
Spike didn't pay attention to her. "No, leave them alone. They don't even really know about you. They aren't here for you, anyway."  
  
"Spike!" Terri looked over at Stiles, who was rolling over. The man could sleep through anything.  
  
"Hush now, lass," he finally said to Terri. "Go back to sleep before your dreams come to get you."  
  
It made sense why they chained the vampire up, as he was clearly losing his mind. Terri shook her head at him and put her head back on the pillow. She closed her eyes, and heard someone say, "Terri."  
  
"Terri, wake up. It is important."  
  
Terri opened her eyes, and struggled in the dim light to identify the figure before her. "Matt?"  
  
Spike stood up. "It's not real, luv. Whatever or whoever you're seeing isn't real."  
  
Sitting up, she said, "It's Matt, my friend Matt."  
  
"Hi, Terri. How have you been doing?"  
  
"Ignore it, Terri, he's not real," Spike said, a little louder.  
  
"Matt?" Terri questioned the form.  
  
"It's me. Don't listen to him, he doesn't know what he's talking about. You really need to get out of here."  
  
"Why?" She asked.  
  
"It isn't safe, he isn't safe. None of the people here are safe. You need to leave."  
  
Spike started to yank at his chains. "Slayer! Buffy, get down here! Willow, Giles, somebody!" His yelling finally started to stir Stiles.  
  
Matt continued, "Please leave, for me. It isn't safe. Go home while you still can."  
  
The lights to the basement flickered on, and Matt was gone. Stiles was finally awake, and asked, "Terri, what's going on?"  
  
"Matt was here. He said we needed to leave."  
  
Buffy was at the bottom of the stairs now, looking at the agent with both concern and understanding. "It was the First, wasn't it?"  
  
Spike answered. "Yeah, it was here as you earlier, and then it saw our friends."  
  
"It was Matt," Terri repeated. She looked at Stiles, "We need to leave. He said we need to leave."  
  
"Calm down, Terri," Stiles softly said.  
  
"I guess we didn't give you enough details about the First." Buffy said. "It can appear as anyone who has died. Is Matt dead?  
  
Terri didn't reply. Stiles said, "He died last year, on a mission. They were friends."  
  
Buffy said, "The First will appear in the form of people we love that have died, to confuse us, or to just amuse itself."  
  
"It was Matt, I saw him. He was here."  
  
"Did you touch him?" Buffy asked. "The First isn't real. It's just an illusion."  
  
Terri buried her face in her hands, confused. Stiles asked, "How can it appear as you? You aren't dead."  
  
"No, but I've died before. Twice. I thought I told you about that. Xander revived me once, and Willow resurrected me the second time."  
  
Terri stood up and walked toward the stairs. "I need some water."  
  
Buffy started to follow, but Stiles said, "She probably needs to work it out alone. Don't worry, she wouldn't leave without me." He gave a reassuring smile.  
  
"She your girl, mate?" Spike asked.  
  
"Not exactly," Stiles said.  
  
"She's pretty, especially when she's confused," Spike said, lighting a cigarette. "Seems like a nice lady, too."  
  
"Yeah, she is," Stiles said.  
  
***  
  
"It does that to everybody."  
  
Terri looked up from her water. She was sitting at the kitchen table, trying to figure out what was going on.  
  
Willow came into the kitchen and sat down next to her. "I heard Spike. The First will do that to anybody."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well, before we knew what it was, it did it to confuse us. It convinced Andrew to kill his friend and Spike to start hunting again. It tried to get me to kill myself." Willow paused. "Now I think it just does it to annoy us and make us upset."  
  
"It works."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
The two women sat quietly for awhile, lost in their own thoughts. They could hear Buffy, Spike, and Stiles talking downstairs, and a few of the Potentials were snoring.  
  
"Was it weird?" Terri asked. "When you found out all those monsters under the bed were real?"  
  
"Actually, it made life make a little more sense. The whole town was weird, and I knew it, but I didn't know why. I mean, how many school newspapers have their own obituary?"  
  
"Wow. That many people die?"  
  
"Yeah. Our class had the lowest mortality rate in the school's history. Buffy got an award and everything." Willow smiled. "And we really haven't found any monsters under beds. They prefer closets and basements."  
  
This got a chuckle from Terri.  
  
"You've probably seen it too," Willow added. "How many of your secret missions are really normal? Have you ever been on one where things just weren't right, didn't go according to the laws of science? Bad guys that didn't come the normal way? I mean, I know you can't tell me, but you should think about it."  
  
Terri sat for a few moments before answering. "Now that I think about it, there have been some very odd things."  
  
"Well, now you know," Willow said.  
  
"And knowing is half the battle," Buffy said, reappearing from downstairs. "You two should go back to sleep."  
  
Terri said, "I don't think I can. Not tonight. Maybe not ever. This is enough to send someone to a mental hospital."  
  
Buffy grimaced. "Let's not talk about mental hospitals," she said. "Long story. You don't want to know."  
  
"I'm going to take your word on that." Terri finished her water, and went back downstairs, although she certainly didn't plan on sleeping. Spike was back asleep; apparently he had no issues with waking up to dead people. Stiles was laying on his back, looking at her.  
  
"You okay?"  
  
"I think so. I think we need to find Kennedy tomorrow and leave though. This place is just way too weird."  
  
"I don't know." Stiles said, raising his eyebrows, "Makes me wonder if I should have sought out those super secret projects like the Initiative they told us about."  
  
"You are one crazy man," she said, sitting on her cot.  
  
He grinned. "And that's why all the ladies love me."  
  
Terri laughed. "Right." She stopped, lost in her own thoughts for a moment. "Does it seem strange to you that our future doesn't depend on the CIA, the FBI, the Mutually Assured Destruction strategy, or the military; but on a bunch of kids in California?"  
  
"I had thought of that. Here we are, playing all these political games, and there are probably groups like this one all over fighting real evil."  
  
"Apparently even our own special unit couldn't compete with this group of little more than teenagers. I think that's depressing."  
  
Stiles reached over and stroked her hair. "We do an important job too. These kids don't do anything about terrorism or things of that nature."  
  
"I'm beginning to think that the terrorists are lucky."  
  
***  
  
"We have news." Terri was briefing Buffy, Dawn, Giles, Willow, Xander, Spike, and Anya in the living room. They'd had to kick Andrew out because he kept asking Stiles questions about government conspiracies.  
  
"Your man, Rayne, did indeed escape from an Army detention center, although the details of his escape were not available."  
  
"Not available?" Giles interrupted. "Good Lord, can your country communicate effectively at all?"  
  
"Giles, get over it," Anya said. "They write entire books about how Britain's lack of communication skills cost all sorts of battles in every war they've been in."  
  
Giles glared at Anya, and then proceeded to clean off his glasses. "Yes, well, one would expect that the CIA would be able to attain any information it wanted, given their reputation."  
  
"I think you're just upset that your country lost the Revolutionary War," Buffy said.  
  
"No, of course not," Giles said. "Although it would make traveling here easier, and I wouldn't need a Green card."  
  
"Could we let Terri continue?" Willow asked. "I think she probably has more to say. Probably none of which concerning the ability of the British to communicate."  
  
"No, I don't have anything on that right now," Terri said. "We do, however have surveillance of Rayne's car in multiple locations following Kennedy's abduction. Satellite imagery," she paused and glared at Andrew, who had stuck his head into the room, "which you are not authorized to view, indicates he stopped and is residing in an abandoned farmhouse about an hour outside of Sunnydale. The phone trace on his earlier call confirms this."  
  
"And we'll be monitoring his call when he places it today," Stiles added. "Who will take the call?"  
  
"Well, considering the only reason he knows Willow exists is me, I'll pick up," Giles said. At the questioning look of the agents, he added, "When we were younger, Ethan and I would stir up quite a bit of trouble. Now he sees it as his duty to make my life, and the lives of those around me, miserable."  
  
"He's a real charmer," Buffy added.  
  
"We'll come up with our final plan after we find out what he wants Willow for," Stiles said. "And we'll get more recon on the area. In the meantime, I need to know who in this group has what fighting abilities we can take advantage of."  
  
"Spike can't go out in the daylight," Giles said. "Something to consider. He's a good fighter, though."  
  
"We have a rocket launcher in the basement," Xander offered, drawing a slightly confused but mostly amused look from the agents.  
  
"And Willow can do spells?" Terri asked, surprised to find a sudden silence in the group.  
  
"Small ones," Willow finally said. "After the whole almost blowing up the world thing, I've cut back a lot."  
  
"Can I come back in now?" Andrew hollered from the kitchen. "I promise not to ask Mr. Stiles any more questions, unless he wants to answer. Like, I've always wanted to know more about Area."  
  
"NO!" was the united response from the room. Buffy looked at Stiles and said, "He isn't actually part of the 'team,' so don't include him in our battle plans."  
  
"But he'd make such great cannon fodder," Spike said, getting a nod of agreement from Stiles.  
  
The argument was stopped before it could begin, however, as the phone rang. Simultaneously, Stiles' and Terri's cellular phones rang. "It must be him," Stiles said before opening his phone.  
  
Giles answered. He only said, "Hello," and "Yes, I understand," before hanging up. He turned to the group and said, "He wants Willow for a simple power enhancing spell. He needs a powerful witch to do it. And if it means anything, he promised to let Kennedy go afterwards and leave the immediate area. Apparently he 'just wants to have some fun' before the Army catches up with him again. Willow is to meet him at this farmhouse tonight, alone."  
  
"Will he be able to tell if she's alone using magic?" Terri asked.  
  
"Probably," Giles said.  
  
"We have good news," Stiles said, as he closed his phone. "He and Kennedy are apparently the only ones there. She is also in good condition."  
  
"You can tell all that just from satellites?"  
  
"Didn't we tell you to go away, Andrew?" Buffy asked.  
  
"I'm going." Andrew left for the kitchen. "I'll start work on dinner. I'm useful, you see."  
  
Stiles laid out a map of the farm house and the surrounding area, provided by some hacking on Willow's part. "The first problem will be to convince him you're alone."  
  
"I've been reading about creating charms that might work," Dawn said. "I'll go get that book."  
  
Terri said, "We'll need to add tracking devices to everyone involved, and all vehicles."  
  
"Hmm. That sounds like something Andrew could actually do," Buffy said. "Andrew!"  
  
Andrew scurried around the corner. He'd obviously been waiting just out of sight. "I can do it! I know how to use tracking devices! This one time, with the Trio, we."  
  
"Nobody cares," Xander said. Stiles handed Andrew a box of supplies, and told him to get to work.  
  
Dawn returned with the book, and Anya said she had the supplies necessary to create charms for everyone to wear. With luck, they would prevent Rayne's magic from detecting them.  
  
***  
  
Willow slowed the SUV to a stop on the gravel drive leading to the abandoned farmhouse. Ethan was just coming out of the house to meet her. A quiet voice from the back of the SUV reassured her, "Don't worry Wills, we've got your back."  
  
Xander's remark was quickly followed by Anya's, "What does that mean, us having her back? Why do we want it?"  
  
As nervous as she was, it was hard to contain the grin that wanted to surface. Willow put on her serious face and got out of the SUV. Slowly, she started her walk up to Ethan.  
  
"Hello Willow. I'm impressed. I would have thought you would have tried to bring friends." Ethan walked out away from the house some to meet her, apparently confident that she was indeed alone.  
  
"Yeah, well, you know me. All about getting the girlfriend back." Willow thought about her friends, and the agents, who were now getting in position all around the house. The charms had been easy to make, but difficult to convince the wearer to use. They smelled horrible. Spike had been the only one not to complain.  
  
"Well, that's very good of you. Shall we get started?" Ethan asked.  
  
Before Willow could answer, a vampire had been tossed from the surrounding brush up on top of the house. "What the hell?" Ethan muttered.  
  
Willow inhaled sharply as she realized it was Buffy. The house was not only surrounded by her friends, it was apparently surrounded by vampires as well.  
  
Buffy, Giles, Terri, Spike, and Stiles all came out of their hidden positions, fighting vampires. "I thought you said there was only the two of them!" Giles yelled at Stiles.  
  
"The satellite only picked up two sources of body heat!" Stiles replied as he shoved his new favorite weapon, a wooden spike, through the heart of a vampire, dusting it. "And I can't believe that actually works."  
  
"You didn't check for demons?" Giles yelled again, this time while attacking another vampire.  
  
Stiles blocked a punch, and then threw his own before answering. "Our satellites aren't rigged to look for demons."  
  
"Well they bloody well should be!"  
  
Xander and Anya belatedly crawled out of the SUV, and rushed toward the house. Their job was to grab Kennedy.  
  
"Oh, I certainly think not," Ethan said, as he hurled energy at the two. He couldn't contain his surprise, however, when Willow caught his ball of energy, made it larger, and threw it back at him.  
  
"This is what you get for taking my girlfriend!" The energy ball hit him squarely in the chest, knocking him to the ground. Willow continued her verbal assault while kicking him repeatedly in the groin. Xander and Anya made it to the house and untied Kennedy. Fortunately, the vampires seemed concentrated outside the house.  
  
"About time you guys showed up," Kennedy said as she ran outside and joined the fray.  
  
While the number of vampires was large, Ethan hadn't recruited particularly bright ones, so the gang quickly dispatched of them. In the end, there was only some extra dust, a few minor cuts and scrapes, and one very prone Ethan Rayne.  
  
Ethan looked up as Giles approached. "You going to give me back to the army, Ripper?"  
  
There was no time to respond before two helicopters landed and unloaded their commando cargo. Two men came forward and handcuffed Ethan while the others created a perimeter.  
  
"It looks like I won't have to," Giles said.  
  
One of the commandos approached Stiles. "Thanks for the catch."  
  
"And where in the hell have you all been this entire time?" Stiles yelled at the man.  
  
"Well, we wouldn't want to get in the way of the CIA, now would we?" He called the perimeter team in, and the commandos plus Rayne got in the helicopters. The gang was now left alone, looking at their prey being taken off to who knows where by some unknown organization.  
  
"Bloody brilliant," Giles muttered as he headed toward the SUV.  
  
***  
  
That night, Terri found herself asleep a lot more quickly than she expected. Again, in the Summers' basement; but without the worry of the crazy vampire. She wasn't surprised or scared when Matt showed up again, either.  
  
"Did your little mission tonight make you feel better?" Matt taunted. "Just think of all the good you've done, saving the world from a wicked warlock." The First laughed at its little joke, and was surprised to find Terri laughing, too.  
  
"Actually, I feel quite good, thank you," she said.  
  
"Are you all going to show up sometime to play with me?" The First Evil asked, obviously hoping for a yes.  
  
Terri continued laughing. "No, I think we'll leave that ass-kicking to the kids here. They don't need our help. You're screwed." The First looked angry before it suddenly disappeared, and Terri returned to sleep without a moment's hesitation. 


End file.
